


Dark as Coffee, Black as Night

by StarryFiction



Category: Cookie Run (Video Game)
Genre: Accidental Death, Blood, Blood and Injury, Corruption, Fights, M/M, Magic, Misunderstandings, Multiple Endings, WOOOOOOOOOH
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:01:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29042040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StarryFiction/pseuds/StarryFiction
Summary: When something happens to Espresso Cookie while he’s in the forest, he calls upon a promise. But could he really be saved so easily..?
Relationships: Madeleine Cookie/Espresso Cookie (Cookie Run)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54





	1. Chapter 1

Dark magic filled the scene deep within the forest. Espresso was familiar with dark magic, the spells he cast so effortlessly through his hands, he didn’t use it for evil. Dark magic wasn’t the same as black magic, the magic only the evil witches and black magic army used, dark magic was magic used for good. Though it’s visuals may not be as appealing as that of light magic, many who prosper looking into dark magic will find that it can be the most powerful magic of all. 

Espresso wielded the darkness skillfully as he almost… danced, as his fiancé would call it, around the forest clearing. Whenever he’d practice, or maybe even just toy, with magic, he’d retreat to the same part in the depths of the woods. Perhaps it was the knowledge that the usual child or common cookie thought of dark magic as evil was the reason for such escape, or perhaps it was for his better focus. Either way, Espresso never stayed on kingdom grounds to use magic. 

The mage didn’t fear being so far away from other cookies for so long. If any cake hounds, hogs, or other monsters attacked him, he’d always have his magic to defend himself with. No monsters could match a well focused mage, after all. And, even if Espresso did feel like he’d be overpowered, he’d have backup. A promise his love had made with him.  
Madeleine promised the dark mage that, if he ever felt overpowered or in need of help, to call out to him. No matter where he was, the light would come to help the darkness.   
And Espresso kept that promise in mind wherever he went. He wasn’t sure how but… he had faith that his fiancé could fulfill it. 

Back in the present time, dark magic was being skillfully wisped around by the mage. Espresso was simply refining his individual targeting, something he didn’t usually do as his main offense in battle was to hit every target at once. And that was when he saw an aura of… something, just barely in his peripheral vision. “And what do we have here..?” He muttered, turning his head to see more clearly. Through the trees of the woods, he could see… magic? He adjusted his glasses, and sure enough, a smog of purple magic was intertwining itself around the trees. “How curious… could this be poison magic, or dark magic..?” The mage wondered, taking a few slow steps forward. He kept himself ready to cast a protection spell if need be, considering it could be poison magic. And also, if there was magic going around freely, whoever sent it out could have ill intent.

The purple cloud wizzed into the clearing, darting past Espresso’s back. He turned around, and the ball of magic stopped while remaining airborne. He pressed his glasses up and examined it closer. “Dark magic...” He identified it easily with a better view. But what could stray dark magic be doing all the way out there? Could he have accidentally let some of his wander and not noticed? The dark mage extended his hand out, and the aura didn’t hesitate to bolt forward and start wisping around his hand. “Hm… certainly seems like mine.” Magic wasn’t sentient, but at the same time, it seemed like it had a mind of its own. Magic is bound to a cookie’s soul, so naturally any loose magic is attracted to the cookie it came from, and Espresso chocked it up to him having missed a little bit that had escaped. 

As the magic surrounded his hand and rested in his palm, he expected it to fade into him and return to his soul. What he didn’t expect was to hear the faintest, childish snickering come from the forest behind him. “You big fool… ehehe…” 

Espresso didn’t vocally gasp, but he did take in a faster breath than usual. He slowly turned over his shoulder to look behind him, and when he had to look down to fully see the voices source, he knew immediately just which cookie it was. “Poison Mushroom Cookie.” 

“Yeees, that’s me… heehee…” The small cookie, definitely a corrupted child in Espresso’s eyes, put their hands in front of their mouth and laughed. “Heehee… And that’s also myyyy maaaagic~!” 

The dark mage's heart stopped in his chest. He had oh so foolishly forgotten that black magic could be easily disguised as dark magic. When Espresso felt something in his hand, he turned back-

He’d absorbed the black magic.  
Or more… the corrupt magic had forced itself into him.

He could feel the evil magic strike like lightning inside him. It burned, but felt cold and desolate at the same time, a terrible, wretched feeling writhing to take over his own magic and take the dark mages soul. He was defenseless against it.

And so, with the last part of consciousness he had, Espresso called out. “Madeleine-!” He yelled weakly, the black stinging his throat. “Madelle!” He cried again, weaker.

It was the last thing he said before his vision went dim, and his spirit of darkness turned midnight black.

~~~~~~

Madeleine was allowing himself a well-deserved break in the kingdom village, a cocky smirk on his face and his eyes closed as he listened to the song Clover Cookie strummed on his lute. The knight had just returned from a quest with Chili Pepper, Rye, Milk and Custard the Third, and he decided a good way to relax in the meantime till when his fiancé got back from the forest was to listen to the humble musicians songs. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who thought Clover’s tunes were a joy, as Herb Cookie sat around too, looking dreamily up at the playing cookie with a dorky smile on his face. Madeleine didn’t pay either of the two green cookie’s any mind.

The valiant cookie’s eyes shot open suddenly, and he tensed up. “Espresso?” He asked the air, looking into the distance at the entrance to the forest on the other side of the village.

Clover paused his playing and Herb also looked over at the knight. “Whatever do you mean, Madeleine? Espresso isn’t in the village right now.” The lute player asked.

The warrior of light didn’t seem to pay attention to either of them. “Espresso-?” He asked again.  
Something was wrong. He could feel it. Something inside him called out to him, something happened to his love.

“Sir Madeleine, Espresso is out in the forest right now. He’s practicing his magic…” Herb said, yet again being ignored.

Madeleine summoned his light sword in his hand, holding it by his side. Something was wrong with Espresso.  
“I must go. Something is wrong, I can feel it.” He said, and before either plant cookies could respond, he ran off. 

Clover and Herb watched him run into the distance, before turning to each other. “I sure hope he knows what he’s doing…” The gardener mumbled, holding his plant slightly closer to himself.

“He's the head knight… I’m sure he’ll be alright.” Clover spoke a rhyme, intentionally or not. Herb looked up at Clover and smiled slightly. The lute player was a good friend when reassuring him.

~~~~~~

The knights boots crushed the grass and twigs beneath him as Madeleine ran through the grove. He had to get to Espresso.  
Madeleine knew the exact clearing where his fiancé went to spellcast based on the couple times he’d been with his lover there. The forest was thick and the sun could barely shine through at times, but nothing. Not a damn thing in that world. Was gonna stop him from helping his love.

Turning swiftly around the trees, Madeleine skidded a little as he found himself finally at the clearing.   
His heart skipped a beat when he realized there was nobody there to be found.   
“Espresso? Espresso!” He called out, whipping his head around, searching for anything. He ran blindly into the clearing and scanned around, clenching his teeth. The clearing was in the corner of the woods, an unclimbable wall of mountain on one side and a cliff down the edge on the other. Where was Espresso..!? “Espresso, where are you!?” Madeleine yelled out again, running to leave the clearing again, when… he kicked something. He looked down, less curious about what he hit and hoping more it wouldn’t take him long to examine, and his eyes widened. It was a dark brown spellbook. Espresso’s dark brown spellbook. Discarded in the dirt.

Madeleine didn’t hesitate to bend over and pick it up, shaking and then brushing some dirt off of it. It was definitely Espresso’s personal spellbook, complete with his symbol on it. It gave the knight hope… but scared him at the same time. Espresso was nearby, yes… but… why would his precious spellbook be discarded on the ground? 

The warrior of light bit back his worry and put on a look of determination, tucking the spellbook into a small satchel, a gift from Rye. Without wasting a second, he started sprinting forward. If Espresso was out there, Madeleine was going to find him. And the knight wouldn’t stop until he did.

But… he had no real path, did he? Madeleine had thought he was strong enough to protect himself in the deep forest, but if something happened to… no. He shoved the thoughts to the back of his mind and continued running. He didn’t care that he ran aimlessly. He’ll run until he finds Espresso, no matter how far that run is. 

And it seems Espresso came to him. 

Madeleine couldn’t hear any other footsteps over the heavy ones of his boots. An almost silent, yet alluring voice whispered from behind, “How nice of you to join me, Madeleine…” 

He was head knight. He knew better than to turn around if mysterious voices whispered to him. But… when the mystery voice in question sounds just like that of your lover, you couldn’t help but be foolish. 

In his sheer joy at hearing Espresso’s voice, Madeleine whipped around. “Espresso!” He yelled, barely getting a good look at his fiancé before going in to hug him. “You had me scared back there lo- ack-!” Barely even a second after he hugged him, Espresso shoved him away, using enough force to knock the warrior of light to the ground.

“I advise you to leave before I need to make you.” Madeleine looked up at his lover, a mix of shock and concern on his face. Now that he looked up at Espresso, he noticed something he’d missed.  
The dark mage's eyes… were purple.  
Not a dark purple that could be mistaken for his normal deep brown eyes, but a bright purple.  
A poisonous purple.

“Espresso..? What happened to you..?” Something happened to Espresso. Something was wrong.  
Madeleine was a fool to ask.   
“Gah-!” In the blink of an eye, the mage was over his fiancé.

He had his foot pressed down on the knight’s chest, and he was pressing down harder in the following seconds, making it only harder for his love to breath. “I told you to go. How much of a fool are you to not run when someone warns you?” Espresso said, as much venom in his tone as there was in his eyes. 

Madeleine panicked. He tried to keep his breathing steady, as he knew he wouldn’t have much of it left soon. “Espresso…” He wheezed, “What are you doing..?” He slowly asked. That wasn’t Espresso. He knew it wasn’t Espresso. But he wished it was.

“I’ll give you ten seconds to run. If you’re so foolish as to stick around to your last breath, then so be it.” With that, he shifted his weight slightly more onto Madeleine’s chest. “Ten.” He began.

Madeleine took in a heavy, weighted breath. Was that… really happening? “E-Essy-“ He wheezed out, “If this is a joke, it’s not funny-“ 

“Nine.” The addressed cookie counted down again, pushing the heel of his boot even more into his fiancés chest.

Looking up into his now purple eyes, Madeleine tried to see some remnant of mercy in Espresso.  
He saw no such thing. “Love- you can't- do this-!” He wheezed out again, before attempting to take in another breath. 

He couldn’t fill his lungs with air before the dark mage put more weight into his heel, pressing into his chest with enough air to knock the wind out of him. “Eight.” Madeleine looked up pitifully at his lover. Espresso had no sign of emotion, not pity, not mercy, nothing in his expression. There was seemingly no way the warrior of light could talk the corrupted dark mage out of proceeding. “Seven.” Mercilessly counting down, pressing his boot further into Madeleine’s chest. Madeleine could barely breathe by that point, and the pressure on his chest was starting to hurt more and more. But nothing could hurt him more than staring into Espresso’s cold, dead eyes, as his lover continued counting. “Six.” Synchronized with his words, the dark mage pushed down only stronger. Madeleine was ripped from his absent, betrayed thoughts as he felt the red hot pain of Espresso’s heel digging into his abdomen. He didn’t want to hurt his fiancé. But that could be the only way to get him off. “Five.” As the halfway mark arrived, Madeleine heard it. Cracking.  
The cracking of the front of his rib cage starting to break beneath the pressure.

And when the pain and reality set in,  
The warrior of light kicked his corrupt lover away,  
Stumbled,  
And ran.

And the last thing he heard-  
“Go! And don’t come back!”

~~~~~~

Madeleine wasn’t quite sure how long he’d been running for until he collapsed. All he knew was that his heart hurt, and his legs and chest ached. He was still struggling to acknowledge that the whole encounter was real. It wasn’t, right? He’d go back to the kingdom, and his dear Essy would be there, wondering where Madel was after an afternoon's practice. 

But the sharp pain in his chest forced him to realize that the whole situation was all too real. That had just happened. And his lover would not be waiting for him back at the kingdom.  
His lover was still in the woods, corrupted by means unknown to Madeleine.   
The warrior of light hadn’t a clue how far from the kingdom he was. His body ached too much to even think too hard about it. 

“Oh my… are you okay, dear warrior..?” A voice came from the woods. But the knight knew better now not to address it. He stayed silent and put, heaving heavy breaths. “Madeleine Cookie…” When he realized the soft voiced character knew his name, he looked up. And he gasped at the woman he saw. 

“White Lily Cookie..!” He recited the name he’d only ever heard before, never having seen its wearer yet. 

The ancient cookie leaned down in front of Madeleine. “Dear knight, are you injured..? What has happened to you?” She asked again, now knowing she had his attention.

“Madame Lily… Espresso Cookie’s been corrupted by black magic.” He paused, before deciding his lover was more important than his own pain. 

“Espresso Cookie..? The dark mage..?” White Lily continued, seeming to miss that Madeleine was avoiding the question. When she got a nod back, she covered her mouth. “Oh my… I should’ve known something was awry when I saw Poison Mushroom Cookie wandering around…”

Madeleine was lifting himself to his knees with his sword when he gasped. “Poison Mushroom? That little kid- corrupted Essy?!” He yelled, almost thinking that Lily could be lying to him, before discarding the thought. Did White Lily even know how to lie..?

The ex-queen nodded. “Yes… Poison Mushroom is a child of Dark Enchantress, it’s very possible they corrupted Espresso with their poisonous magic…” When she watched the warrior attempt to stand up, before clutching his chest, she asked again. “Madeleine Cookie, are you okay?” 

He heaved a breath in, then sighed. “He attacked me while I was looking for him… I ran away from him and ran into you.” He explained, breathing heavy. Lily put her hands over her mouth in pity, but Madeleine stopped her before she could say anything. “White Lily, do you know how to fix this..? Do you know how to get my Essy back?” 

The queen took a breath, and then looked away. She had a look of mercy on her face, and seemed to be thinking hard. “Dear warrior… have you ever heard the legend of Sea Fairy Cookie..?” 

“Sea Fairy Cookie?” He questioned, and White Lily took another deep breath. 

“The tale of the legendary Sea Fairy is sorrowful, but full of hope.” She waved her flower staff to the side as she recited the tale. “Cursed by Dark Enchantress, Sea Fairy was trapped in ice. The oceans froze over, causing panic and terror to the ancient cookie people. Her heart was frozen over, and it was believed that she, and the seas, would never unfreeze again. That was until every cookie in the kingdom united together to share their love; they spread joy to the hearts of each other, and spread it far and wide. Soon, it started reaching the frozen Sea Fairy Cookie. What finally unfroze the goddess, and the seas, was the help of the moon- the moon came down from the skies to help the sea, her love. With the warmth of every cookie's hearts, and her lover by her side, the goddess melted her icy chains.” 

When Lily finished her story, she looked at Madeleine, and noticed he was staring wide eyed. “Woah… what a tale…” White Lily nodded, “But, what does it have to do with uncorrupting Espresso?” 

She sighed. “You have to be the one to set him free, Madeleine...” 

“What?” 

“If the sea was set free by the love of the moon, then Espresso can be set free by you. Use love like it’s a weapon…” She took a couple steps forward, standing tall over the warrior. “How much do you love him, Madeleine..?” Lily asked, knowing the question seemed obtuse, but also knowing she had to say it.

Madeleine raised his eyebrow. “A lot? Of course I love Essy, we’re engaged for god’s sake.” When the ex queen narrowed her eyes, he realized that that wasn’t what she meant. He sighed. “I knew I liked Espresso from the day I met him… he scolded my light in a way nobody had ever put me down with before, and something about the way Essy was so… confident, yet seemingly so humbled too was annoying but… alluring.” He held his arm, continuing to ramble. “When I’d learnt about how the general public viewed dark magic compared to what it really like, and the difference between dark magic and black magic, I realized there was more to him than I-“ Madeleine stopped himself when he finally realized he was rambling. He looked up at Lily again and saw that she was smiling slightly.

“That is what I was asking for.” She said, putting her hands together in front of her. “It’s clear to me that you love your fiancé very much… enough to rid him of the poison that corrupted him.” 

The warrior smiled, before that smile turning down. “How do I do that..?” 

“Nobody knows quite what the moon did to set the sea free… but I believe you can find out what is right, sir Madeleine.” She smiled at Madeleine again. “Good luck.” He nodded at her, before turning away to run off- only to stop and wince at the strike in his chest that he’d forgotten was there. 

“Oh Millennial Tree, I gotta go back to the kingdom and…” White Lily flicked her flower staff once, and suddenly, Madeleine could no longer feel the pain in his chest. “...heal..?” He looked over his shoulder and saw Lily again. She was smiling, and gave him a nod. He paused, but smiled and nodded back. And finally, he ran off to go find his lover in the woods again.

White Lily watched him disappear into the foliage, holding her floral staff carefully. Oh how she hoped he could succeed…   
“Khe he he…”   
A quiet, low laugh came from behind her. Slowly looking over her shoulder, she was able to see the sound’s creator right away. “You reeeaaaally think LOVE could uncorrupt poison magic?” Licorice Cookie stood with his scythe in his hands, covered by his sleeves. “This isn’t some fairy tale, cookie.” He laughed again, a corrupt taunt. 

“Don’t try to corrupt me too, Licorice. A white lily is a pure, unadulterated bloom.” She said, not looking away from the corrupt cookie. 

“Oh, I don’t do aaany corrupting, queen Lily. That is all on the kid.” He put his hands in front of his face and laughed. “I just happened to hear your altercation with that- warrior of light,” He spat the last words, “And got a bit… curious.” 

“If you have nothing good to say, leave, Licorice.” Lily said, no emotion on her face. 

His deep, low laugh was ominous and threatening as he spoke. “The magic as black as night will prevail, queen...” As he finished, he descended back into the foliage. 

White Lily watched him leave, before sighing. Evil cookies like Licorice have no place to be around her.  
But yet, she couldn’t help but ponder what he said. Oh, she hoped she gave Madeleine the right prompting...

~~~~~~

Running aimlessly through the forest, Madeleine did not allow his tired legs to stop him. He wasn’t sure if Espresso had wandered from his place in the forest, or quite what the mage would be looking for if he had, but he was willing to look as long as he needed. 

After a prolonged amount of running, it was clear that it wasn’t going to be easy. Espresso didn’t seem to want to come to Madeleine that time, so he'd be looking alone. For a moment, the warrior slowed down. He opened up his satchel and pulled out the spell book, Espresso’s personal spell book. The front only said “Dark Magic,” and the back was just a passage about what it was. Still walking at a slow pace, Madeleine pulled the book open. He flipped through the pages, only lightly scanning the words, considering he didn’t understand dark magic either way. But when it started going from necessary to learn spells to custom spells that Espresso put in, he started noticing… pictures. “Is Essy a doodler..?” He mumbled to himself, examining the photos on each spell page. It started off as just tiny drawings of Espresso’s pet, or of the mage himself, or tiny still life doodles of cups or mugs. But Madeleine slowly started noticing little doodles of… himself. At first it was just simple doodles of Madeleine with tiny captions, like “How self absorbed…” or “Light magic, really?” In Espresso’s handwriting, and the warrior chocked it up to the doodles being from when the two first met. But the drawings changed to ones of him and Espresso together, or just drawings of him with small hearts. The captions were softer now, “My sweet Madelle,” and “I’m glad we’ve met.” 

“Essy…” Madeleine said under his breath, before smiling widely. He stopped abruptly and shut the book, looking tensely up from it. He had to find Espresso. He had to find his Essy. 

The warrior wasn’t going to let himself be distracted again. He tucked the book back into the satchel and started running again, but now he figured he could try a little harder. He cupped his gloved hands over his mouth, took a deep breath, and started calling out. “Essy! Espresso, love, where are you?!”   
He knew love was the way to uncorrupt his fiancé. So he started quick, using his usual pet names and affectionates. 

“Espresso, where are you, love?! Essy!” He yelled repetitively, not willing to stop for even a second.

“Madelle.” Not willing to stop… with the exception of that. Espresso replying with a flat tone. Madeleine paused for a moment. He knew better now than he did earlier to stifle his enthusiasm. 

“Espresso.” He said back, looking over his shoulder before turning around. The mage floated just barely above the ground, his arms crossed with a stern face.

“I thought I’d told you to go. Do you heed so foolish as to come again?” Espresso glared down at his fiancé, and that’s when Madeleine noticed that his purple eyes seemed to have... an ominous glow to them. The slight fog in the woods didn’t make it any better. 

Madeleine didn’t respond to his corrupt lover. Instead, he reached for his satchel again, pulling out the spellbook. “Essy, this isn’t you… You’re a dark mage, not a user of evil.” He held the cover of the book up, clear enough to read. 

Espresso went down and stomped his foot forward. “So what? Everyone thinks the two are the same, why not show them what evil really is?” He glared at his lover again. But to Madeleine’s pain, the glare was full of nothing but pure hatred. “You’re just the same, Madeleine.” 

The warrior bit his lip, feeling as though he should plan his next words very carefully. “I’m not here for a fight. I just want my lover back.” 

The corrupted mage stared blankly over at the warrior. For a moment, Madeleine thought he could be pondering what he said. But then, a sly smile came across Espresso’s face. “Well I’m afraid-“ He stepped forward and held his hand up, a blaze of magic appearing in his palm. “-That’s something you’ll have to FIGHT FOR!” 

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Madeleine was instinctively raising his shield against an attack. A blaze of poisonous magic burst upon contact with his shield of light, which he promptly thrust forward to knock Espresso away. When he looked past his shield, he saw Espresso’s eyes- wide eyed, deep purple and thick with a corrupted evil. Madeleine didn’t want to hurt his love- but it seemed his lover’s determination to hurt him was going to make that idea unrealistic. He couldn’t use only his shield for long.

“Essy, you can’t do this-!” He yelled, his voice breaking in his throat. He’d thought himself tough, but he supposed even the toughest warrior can break under the affairs of love. 

“And why not?” Espresso replied, not stopping from his attacks of poisonous magic. “What can YOU do to stop me?!” He spat, and it hurt Madeleine to see him acting out like that.

“Because this isn’t what YOU’RE like, Essy!” The warrior yelled back, still shielding the magic away. “I love you, Espresso. You can’t do this!”   
Madeline bolted forward, grabbing Espresso’s upper arms before he could raise them again.  
He just had to show his love.   
That was all he had to do, and that would all be over.

Just as fast as Madeleine had bolted close, he was blasted away, his shield leaving his grip. Espresso had summoned a blast of magic that forced him to the ground. “Well who the FUCK said I cared about you?!” The mage yelled, stomping towards his fiancé again. “Why don’t you just go back to the oven that YOU shouldn’t have escaped from in the FIRST PLACE?!” He cried, his voice breaking as well. It wasn’t in Espresso’s nature to yell like that. It never was.

Madeleine’s eyes widened in shock when the words reached his ears. That was one of the most bastardly threats in the kingdom. He doubted even Dark Enchantress herself would ever curse someone like that. The warrior eyes lowered in an upset frustration, and he looked over at his shield. It was on the other side of the clearing, and he stood up, glaring back at the corrupted mage. He burned with anger for the cookie that had corrupted his lover. To corrupt him to the point where he’d even dare to say that was despicable.  
It set his heart and soul ablaze. 

Espresso raised his hands with an aura of purple magic again as Madeleine gripped the handle of his weapon. With a corrupt, poisonous glare in Espresso’s eyes, and a burning, beyond upset look in Madeleine’s, the two ran at each other. 

And that’s when Madeleine grabbed his sword with both hands,

Heaved the blade,

And sliced.

He never wanted to hurt Espresso. 

He never had, never would.

He didn’t realize what he was doing.

He had promised to always be there to protect Espresso.

But we all make promises we can’t keep, don’t we?

Everything happened in a matter of seconds. The sheer force of the impact was enough to send Espresso onto the ground, sliding into the dirt. The lenses of his glasses audibly shattered on impact, falling off of his face. His now dirty hair fell into his face, and Madeleine couldn’t see his face at all. But that wasn’t what concerned Madeleine.

His hands started shaking to the point where his sword fell out of his grip. His eyes shot wide as he took a sharp breath. “No… ESSY!” His heart raced in his chest as he ran forward, not bothering with his sword or shield. The only thought was making sure his lover was okay.

He fell to his knees and slid across the ground, picking up Espresso’s body in his arms. The first thing he saw was the wound that crossed from the mages neck across his face. Madeleine knew how strong his blade was, and from the amount of blood seeping from the wound, he could tell the cut was deep. He wouldn’t doubt that there’d be blood pouring from Espresso’s body if it weren’t for the dirt already caked inside the wound from the impact into the loose forest ground. 

Madeleine bit the inside of his cheek hard at the sight. He’d seen bad gore before, but something about the dirt and bloody mud caked inside his lover’s face was horrifying. He couldn’t stop his breathing from increasing to the point where he hyperventilated badly as his arms shook, tears pricking in his eyes. “Espresso… no… please… please wake up…” He muttered, shaking Espresso’s body lightly. He didn’t move at all. “No… no, no, no… no…” Madeleine repeated to himself, hot tears dripping down his cheeks. “Please… wake up… Espresso, please, wake up…” 

No matter how much Madeleine repeated himself, Espresso didn’t move. Something deep inside Madeleine knew his own strength with his blade. He knew the cut in his throat was too deep for Espresso to even breath any longer. There would be too much dirt and blood in his throat for any air to get through. 

Alone in the forest, Madeleine sobbed. Holding the limp body of his late lover in his arms.


	2. Ending Two

Intense violence 

Dark magic filled the scene deep within the forest. Espresso was familiar with dark magic, the spells he cast so effortlessly through his hands, and he didn’t use it for evil. Dark magic wasn’t the same as black magic, the magic only the evil witches and black magic army used, dark magic was magic used for good. Though it’s visuals may not be as appealing as that of light magic, many who prosper looking into dark magic will find that it can be the most powerful magic of all. 

Espresso wielded the darkness skillfully as he almost… danced, as his fiancé would call it, around the forest clearing. He allowed himself a short chuckle thinking about it, the way his lover would have his own descriptions for any task. But the mage wouldn’t have it any other way.  
Whenever he’d practice, or maybe even just toy, with magic, he’d retreat to the same part in the depths of the woods. Perhaps it was the knowledge that the usual child or common cookie thought of dark magic as evil was the reason for such escape, or perhaps it was for his better focus. Either way, Espresso never stayed on kingdom grounds to use magic. 

The mage didn’t fear being so far away from other cookies for so long. If any cake hounds, hogs, or other monsters attacked him, he’d always have his magic to defend himself with. No monsters could match a well focused mage, after all. And, even if Espresso did feel like he’d be overpowered, he’d have backup. A promise his love had made with him.  
Madeleine promised the dark mage that, if he ever felt overpowered or in need of help, to call out to him. No matter where he was, the light would come to help the darkness.   
And Espresso kept that promise in mind wherever he went. He wasn’t sure how but… he had faith that his fiancé could fulfill it. Perhaps a foolish thought, but he trusted it.

Back in the present time, dark magic was being skillfully wisped around by the mage. Espresso was simply refining his individual targeting, something he didn’t usually do as his main offense in battle was to hit every target at once. And that was when he saw an aura of… something, just barely in his peripheral vision. “And what do we have here..?” He muttered, turning his head to see more clearly. Through the trees of the woods, he could see… magic? He adjusted his glasses, and sure enough, a smog of purple magic was intertwining itself around the trees. “How curious… could this be poison magic, or dark magic..?” The mage wondered, taking a few slow steps forward. He kept himself ready to cast a protection spell if need be, considering it could be poison magic. And also, if there was magic going around freely, whoever sent it out could have ill intent.

The purple cloud wizzed into the clearing, darting past Espresso’s back. He turned around, and the ball of magic stopped while remaining airborne. He pressed his glasses up and examined it closer. “Dark magic...” He identified it easily with a better view. But what could stray dark magic be doing all the way out there? Could he have accidentally let some of his wander and not noticed? The dark mage extended his hand out, and the aura didn’t hesitate to bolt forward and start wisping around his hand. “Hm… certainly seems like mine.” Magic wasn’t sentient, but at the same time, it seemed like it had a mind of its own. Magic is bound to a cookie’s soul, so naturally any loose magic is attracted to the cookie it came from, and Espresso chalked it up to him having missed a little bit that had escaped. Though, he did have a thought nagging at the back of his mind that… why would his magic be purple..?

As the magic surrounded his hand and rested in his palm, he expected it to fade into him and return to his soul where it came from. What he didn’t expect was to hear the faintest, childish snickering come from the forest behind him. “You big fool… ehehe…” 

Espresso didn’t audibly gasp, but he did take in a faster breath than usual. He slowly turned over his shoulder to look behind him, and when he had to look down to fully see the voices source, he knew immediately just which cookie it was. “Poison Mushroom Cookie.” He addressed flatly, narrowing his eyes down at the child.

“Yeees, that’s me… heehee…” The small cookie, definitely a corrupted kid, at least in Espresso’s eyes, put their hands in front of their mouth and laughed. “Heehee… And that’s also myyyy maaaagic~!” They yelled, smiling widely with a foul innocence to it.

The dark mage's heart stopped in his chest. He had so foolishly forgotten that black magic could be easily disguised as dark magic. When Espresso felt something in his hand, he turned back-

He’d absorbed the black magic.  
Or more… the corrupt magic had forced itself into him.

He could feel the evil magic strike like lightning inside him. It burned, but felt cold and desolate at the same time, a terrible, wretched feeling writhing to take over his own magic and take the dark mages soul. He was defenseless against it if it was already inside. How could he be such a fool..?

And so, with the last part of consciousness he had, Espresso called out. “Madeleine-!” He yelled weakly, the black stinging his throat. “Madelle!” He cried again, weaker.

It was the last thing he said before his vision went dim, and his spirit of darkness turned midnight black.

~~~~~~

Darkness. A vantablack void swallowing any light that came near it. Black as the magic that reigned all throughout the darkness. It swallowed light, it swallowed life, it swallowed everything.   
Espresso couldn’t see through it. It’s darkness overpowered his vision, or was darkness his vision? He couldn’t tell, and he felt nothing. No pain, no emotion, only the black void. Was he even conscious, or in some state of limbo..? His eyes were open, were they not?   
Is this what happens when midnight takes over..?

“Ugh…” 

Espresso woke up slowly, feeling fatigued. He opened his eyes and his vision was blurred and hazy, and his first instinct was to look for his glasses, assuming that was the reason for his lack of sight. His fingers touched the frame and he quickly grabbed and shook the glasses, the little sight he had making it obvious that they were covered in dirt. The mage rubbed the last bit of dust off the lenses with his thumb and finally put them on, taking in the scene around him. He squinted slightly, his vision feeling… dim. But he chalked it up to being the foliage playing tricks and stood up, glancing around. He was right where he’d fallen unconscious, which was… a clearing, in the woods. Espresso put a hand on his temple to soothe his head, which ached as he tried to remember what he’d been doing earlier. What HAD he been doing? He wasn’t quite sure anymore why he had been in the woods in the first place. In fact, he didn’t remember much of anything at all.

The only thing he could recall at the moment was his name. He… could remember his name, right? Yeah, he could. He knew who he was.   
“...Espresso Cookie…” He said under his breath. That was it, his name. He was Espresso Cookie, a… dark mage. He was doing magic before he was… knocked unconscious.

Shutting his eyes tight to try and focus better on his own thoughts, he realized something. Opening his eyes again confirmed his speculation further.   
There was a mild purple glow in his vision, which at first he thought was the lighting of the forest, but shutting his eyes made him realize it prospered no matter what. He blinked several times, attempting to rid the glow from his sight, but it didn’t go away. Nothing he could think of at the time could explain the purple haze, and he decided his best choice would be to wait until his memories came back to try and figure it out further. 

“Hm… what a strange situation…” Espresso thought, bringing a hand to his mouth. To suddenly fall unconscious and wake up with a purple glow veiled over your vision…   
Because he didn’t know where he was, he thought he could ask someone once he found them. Despite knowing he was in the forest, he wasn’t quite sure where he was, or how exactly he got there. Where had he gotten there from?   
His head throbbed again and he clutched it, forgetting he shouldn’t think all too hard. The mage took a deep breath, and decided the only way to go was forward, into the foliage.

~~~~~~

As he carefully stepped over sticks and avoided disrupting nature, Espresso felt a sense of deja vu. The forest seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite tell what from. The purple glow in his sight didn’t leave either, and he questioned briefly what it could be. The sound of his small, quiet footsteps soon became overtaken by… more footsteps. The dark mage glanced around, looking for the source of the heavy walking and carefully moving around the foliage. That’s when Espresso finally saw the familiar figure on the path in front of him. 

The cookie was definitely familiar, but he couldn’t quite place why. The other’s long, vanilla white hair and the way he carried himself so valiantly was recognizable to him, but the wandering figure also seemed decently worried from how tightly he was gripping his sword’s handle. The cookie turned to look elsewhere, and Espresso could then see his face. And seeing that face made it instantly unfog in the mage’s mind, and he knew who the valiant cookie was.  
Madeleine Cookie.  
Espresso’s… oh, what was the right word?  
He couldn’t quite remember the past correctly, but Madeleine was certainly something to him. His… friend? No, that didn’t feel right. Acquaintance? He wasn’t sure of that either. His rival. Was the warrior a rival, or an enemy to him? He wasn’t sure, but Espresso immediately felt… a spiteful dislike towards Madeleine. He frowned to himself, his eyes narrowing. The warrior continued absently looking around, searching, till he finally turned to where the mage could see his eyes.  
Red.

Malicious and red eyes.

Espresso gasped, backing up. That only ended up with him backing up and tripping over a stick, “Agh-!?” letting out a groan as he fell backwards into a bush. His glasses fell off of his face and he quickly sat up, reaching around the foliage he was caught with blurry vision in for his glasses.   
“Essy!”   
He took a sharp breath. He scrambled faster to find his glasses, only causing him more trouble in finding them. “Espresso, are you alright? You seem panicked.” The voice sounded… caring. Honest. But somehow, the mage sought it a lie. He turned his head towards the source and saw the blurry form of Madeleine, who had picked something up and was rubbing dirt off of it. 

Espresso squinted, trying to focus his vision, until the other got closer. He felt like hissing out a vulgar statement, until… the warrior placed his glasses back on his face, making the world clearer. Looking into the now focused vision, he examined the other’s face again. Yet again, he saw deep red eyes, a spiteful and malicious look trying to hide itself behind a caring expression. 

“I was so worried about you after I found your spellbook in the dirt, I’m glad I found you!” Madeleine said. Espresso squeaked as the taller grabbed his arms and pulled him to his feet without any warning. “What happened? Are you hurt..?” His words drifted off, and the mage noticed that he seemed to be… examining his face. 

Staring blankly and silent for a moment, Espresso’s thoughts raced. The look he saw inside Madeleine was undeniably one of maliciousness and evil, but it didn’t match his tone.   
Did he think Espresso a fool?

The purple haze around his vision only seemed to intensify as he glared up at Madeleine. “I will not play these games with you, Madeleine.” He hissed, bringing one hand up. 

The taller’s expression lowered. “Games..? Love, what happened?” Love? What the hell did Madeleine think he was to call Espresso ‘love?!’  
It made the mage feel hateful. Venomous. He wanted to hurt the other.

“Agh-!” Madeleine screamed as he was pushed back by a blast of purple magic, bracing himself as he hit the ground. He looked up at the other with wide eyes, and Espresso knew the look. Scanning. Madeleine knew that Espresso had caught on. “Essy-? What are you doing?”   
He was a fool to ask. 

The warrior stood up, bracing his shield with some… makeshift fearful look. ‘What kind of IDIOT does he think I am?’ “What does it seem like I’m doing? I’m fighting my enemy!” Without a seconds hesitation, Espresso burst forward, magic already appearing in his hand. 

The other barely had the time to raise his shield before the attack of mana was thrown forward at him. He lowered his shield to look again, a purely shocked and fearful look on his face, but still searching red eyes. “Enemy? Espresso, what do you mean?!” He yelled in panic, immediately needing to shield another burst of poisonous magic from hitting him.

“You know just what I mean!” Espresso yelled back, his voice cracking slightly in his throat. “A warrior of light convinced dark and black are the same! Why shouldn’t you be my enemy-?!” He cried, running forward with darts of magic ready to rain down on his enemy. “-When you can just go to the oven again for all I care?!” 

Some of the magic struck down and pierced through the warrior’s arms or legs, making him moan in pain. Espresso allowed himself a slim smile. He was winning. “Essy, please, I don’t want to fight you-!” Madeleine cried, before a seal of purple magic enveloped his shield- and threw it away into the forest. 

“Who said I didn’t want to fight YOU!?” The mage ran forth again, and the warrior edged back as much as he could, defenseless with no shield and unwilling to use his sword. 

“Espresso, love, NO-!” Madeleine called out one last time, before- a flame of gaseous, poisonous magic was stuffed down his throat, snuffing out any attempts of making any noise. He coughed, he hacked violently, trying desperately to rid the blaze of death from his airway, but his efforts being futile. Coughing only spread the gas further, getting in his eyes, making him shut them tight and tear up. And Espresso only watched. He only stared down spitefully at the warrior who was trying desperately to cling onto a final hold of life. 

The mage’s ears suddenly rang, a loud, piercing noise inside his own head making him shut down. Eyes shut tight and hands over his ears, he could barely notice the purple haze fade from the outside of his vision and a little voice in the back of his head whisper “You’ve played your part…” 

As his ears stopped ringing, Espresso opened his eyes again, immediately seeing Madeleine still convulsing and coughing up poisonous gas on the ground. His eyes widened. “Madelle!” He yelled, immediately falling forward to his knees and grabbing his lover’s upper arms. Tears were pouring from Madeleine’s eyes, and saliva fell down his chin from how desperately and futilely he had been coughing, which was still continuing. “It’ll be alright- I- I can help you-“ Espresso stuttered, putting his arms under his lover’s and his head on his shoulder, he was about to try to stand when-  
The coughing just… faded.  
“Madelle?”   
He didn’t want to trust his ears. So he moved back again, and saw Madeleine’s face.   
Tearstained, pale and blue. His eyes were half lidded and his breathing was completely inaudible, as though not there at all.   
And then, he fell forward.  
Onto Espresso.   
Limp. And lifeless.

Espresso’s heart stopped. The cold feeling of his fiancé’s limp body on him was dreadful, almost haunting. And then, he leaned forward and hugged Madeleine’s lifeless body, and sobbed. He didn’t just sob, hell, he screamed. Screamed out for it all to not be real. Screamed out at himself for being a fool.  
Screamed out for Madeleine to wake up, to say it was all okay.  
But…

The dead can’t talk back.


End file.
